Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a fair question. I will be honest and tell Members that there was great resistance to section 17 from many quarters. However, there must be a channel that elected representatives of the people should be able to receive information and be, in certain circumstances, a port of call. It was determined that I could include Members of the Dáil in the legislation. Including a wider cohort might have been a bridge too far simply because of the numbers of Members of the Seanad involved.